Chapter 1171: Fear (II)

Greenery appeared on the snowy mountain, spreading through the terrain in the blink of an eye. Snowy drifts melted away, spring arrived in glory, and all life revitalized. A major monster spirit trembled on the mountain peak, not daring to move a muscle.

Since this place could access the dao universe, that meant there was once a dao meridian here that’d connected to the Hao Cosmos. Li Hao wasn’t concerned, perhaps someone had cultivated here before and opened their dao meridian.

It was difficult to say if the monster spirit close at hand was the source of that dao meridian. Did monster spirits have dao meridians? Panther had remained in seclusion all this time.

Li Hao had wanted to bring the dog with him for the last battle, but sensed that the dog’s presence was unstable when he approached. Perhaps Panth had neared a critical moment in its cultivation. Li Hao could only give up the notion to have the dog by his side in battle.

If it turned out that a monster spirit had accidentally opened its dao meridian... then poor Panther would’ve been so unlucky. It’d spent so long in closed door cultivation, but didn’t measure up to a random wild monster spirit.

Li Hao ignored all this and focused on stabilizing the new passageway.

A powerhouse appeared in the surroundings after a while. It stood far away and saw a figure on the mountaintop. The man was surprised that someone had reached this spot before he had, did he have competition for the newly born treasure?

When he took a closer look... his heart threatened to jump out of his chest!

“Commander Li!” The powerhouse called out with a pale face.

Li Hao tilted his head sideways and didn’t recognize the person. He inclined his head and responded calmly, “I am cultivating here. What is this place?”

Cultivating?

Oh my heavens!

Just look at those dragons soaring through the sky. They’re filled with so much energy that they’re pillars of light. Is this cultivation??

“In response to the commander, this place... is within the boundaries of Hover Mountain. It is a region in the north situated between Ash and Kui Mountain.”

The north?

He’d returned to the north again.

Li Hao nodded slightly and looked at the newcomer. The latter was strong and seemed to have opened a few dao meridians. That made him a Mountain and Sea heavyweight.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Few were this level of cultivator who were yet to join the Skystar Commander Office. He didn’t seem that old, relatively speaking. The man looked to be in his late forties and suppressed the urge to shrink away when Li Hao looked over at him.

“I should not disturb the commander from cultivating, but I’m rather curious. Are these massive dragons... dao... meridians?”

“Yes.”

The man gasped with shock and murmured, “A dao meridian is as if a dragon. The commander is certainly blessed by the heavens to be able to cultivate to such a level of strength!”

“Anyone can do so, it’s just a matter of time. Who are you?” Li Hao studied the newcomer.

“In response to the commander, I am Chao Baisheng.”

Chao Baisheng?

Something poked at Li Hao’s recollection. “I once traveled through the northern continent and heard of the Sacred White Sect and the Black Mountain Brigand’s activities at the end of the northern continent. The Black Mountain Brigand commits all manner of evil and the Sacred White Sect is said to be a holy, merciful organization formed to deliver the people from suffering. Are you the sect master?” [1]

“That is this humble one,” the man quickly said. “But the commander’s praise is far too high. This humble one is not nearly that good...”

“I once saw with my own eyes a group of Sacred White members set fire to a village and forced the villagers to join the sect. They posed as the Black Mountain Brigand when doing so. I’d wanted to exterminate them all when I saw their doings and eliminate a scourge for the people...”

Color drained from Chao Baisheng’s face!

“But then I heard them say that if they didn’t force the people to leave, the entire village would be massacred when the Black Mountain Brigand arrived. I wondered then how to determine right from wrong in this world. Did Sacred White pose as mountain bandits and burn the village to force people into a life of banditry, or did they do that to save people instead?”

Chao Baisheng swallowed hard. He hadn’t thought that Li Hao would be aware of his sect and even witnessed his sect members out on business. He didn’t know what the young man intended and severely regretted not leaving earlier. This matter was too dangerous!

Just Li Hao cultivating was too terrifying to endure. The young man’s presence and aura was enough to make his jaw sag with horror. Why did he want to take another look?? Now look at the situation, he likely wouldn’t be getting away!

Indeed, Li Hao had indeed witnessed Sacred White’s methods before. He’d been on his way to the Xus in the east and passed by the area. After he witnessed the scene, he elected not to interfere.

Who would’ve thought that he’d run into the sect master here today?

“You are the equivalent of the old Arcanus since you’ve made it to Mountain and Sea,” Li Hao continued. “Your potential is good and your methods are not bad. You’ve got some courage too—daring to linger even though you knew I was cultivating here. Perhaps you want to peek into my secrets...”

“Not at all, this is a misunderstanding...”

“That is alright! Everyone has some greed lurking in their heart!” Li Hao said softly. “It is fine so long as you keep the self, heart, and actions under control! Saints are measured by their deeds, not their hearts. If they put on an act for their entire life and pose as a Saint, then they are a true Saint despite the deception!”

Chao Baisheng blinked and looked at Li Hao, not saying a word.

“You and I share a bit of destiny in meeting here. If you do something for me, I will grant you a stroke of fortune. How about it?” asked Li Hao.

“Please give me your instructions, commander,” Chao Baisheng hastily responded after a jerk of surprise. “This humble one would not dare disobey.”

“It is not an instruction and it is up to you whether you wish to undertake the task or not...” Li Hao leveled a gaze at him. “The Sacred White Sect is one of the few remaining sects in the world. I have not had time to turn my attention to the various sects after conquering the four continents. Your sect has a good reputation and still exists...

“How about you recruit all of the holdouts in the world, all those who are still rebellious, evildoers, murderers, bandits, and the like? Collect all of the fugitives for me.”

“I would not dare!” Chao Baisheng’s eyes widened. “If the commander is worried, I will disband the sect immediately. The Sacred White Sect is only formed by a group of poor people with hard lives. Our goal was to oppose the nine ministries and royal family, which the commander has already toppled...”

“No!” Li Hao shook his head. “It is better for you to operate! My people are very busy and no one is in the mood to resolve all of these troublemakers one by one. They have neither the time nor energy to!

“Gather them together so as to cleanse the world! The Sacred White Sect isn’t affiliated with me and no one knows that we’ve met today. To meet is to share a destiny!

“I can bestow upon you a great dao of the light attribute with an exceedingly strong dao meridian. Perhaps it might help you rise all the way to Sun and Moon. You will sweep the four corners! All evildoers in the world will be eliminated in one day!

“Forsake the darkness and return to the light. After you succeed, you may join the Skystar Commander Office. How about it?”

Chao Baisheng stared, an arctic chill rising from the bottom of his heart!

Li Hao!

The great leader that everyone regarded as a saint was so... coldhearted and ruthless! The young man wanted him to absorb all of the evil in the world into his own organization so that he could capture them in one fell swoop. Was this the saint that the outside world lauded in such glowing terms?

It made one shudder with horror!

Could he refuse?

He could not!

Chao Baisheng didn’t dare say anything other than quickly agree, “Exterminating evil is one’s duty. There is no need for the commander to bestow rewards as this is what Baisheng should be doing...”

“Martial might is not the only answer, but without it, one is hard pressed to keep the world in order! In the world of superhumans, might and intelligence must go hand-in-hand. If you accept my dao of light, I will be able to find you at any time and also restrict your movements. Of course, you can also decline...”

“I thank the commander for your rewards!” Chao Baisheng didn’t dare voice any more words of refusal. If he did, he might not be making it off the mountain. Li Hao was too scary! How was he a benevolent ruler?? He was a hotly ambitious and domineering overlord! The world had misunderstood him!

One of the five dragons separated from the pack and swiftly entered Baisheng’s body. The man’s body nearly exploded; thankfully, the power of light erupted and protected him.

Li Hao glanced at the four giant dragons in the air and heaved a slight sigh of relief. He’d given away the dao of light because he had no other choice. The interplay of darkness and light was very difficult to stabilize!

Wherever the dao of light was, so was the risk of exposure. It also greatly decreased the effectiveness of the concealment properties of the darkness attribute.

Just when he was about to give up on the dao of light, this person barged in. The man presented a pure and blessed facade to the world. Was this heaven’s will?

The heavenly will...

Li Hao smiled, it might not be heavenly will, but it was very likely the great dao’s will.

There were cultivators of the path of light—Light Sword was one of them. However, she was already peak third level Sun and Moon and on the cusp of fourth level. She had no need for Li Hao’s great dao.

Since he’d encountered Chao Baisheng, then he would place his chess piece according to the flow of the situation.

It was only now that Chao Baisheng truly experienced Li Hao’s might. Just one dao meridian was sufficient to rapidly improve the strength in his body. He’d originally been initial Mountain and Sea—his presence rapidly neared mid Mountain and Sea.

It took only the blink of an eye for him to break through the mid levels and advance to late Mountain and Sea. Chao Baisheng’s face contorted as he growled from the pain of breaking through.

Li Hao reached out and tapped a place on his body—a dao meridian appeared. “Open this dao meridian. It is the body dao meridian, and you are not to share it with anyone else!”

Stunned, Chao Baisheng quickly gathered energy to clear acupoints. It wasn’t long before immense strength punched through the body dao meridian. His body swiftly grew stronger and it no longer teetered on the verge of exploding.

Li Hao quietly watched the changes, continuing to fortify the passageway of his great dao.

After a while, Chao Baisheng’s accumulated strength broke through a bottleneck with a roar. His presence billowed commandingly.

Sun and Moon!

It was now that his presence began to calm down. He couldn’t help his agitation and quickly bowed, “My thanks to the commander for your largesse...”

“It is not my generosity,” Li Hao said calmly. “I’m just lending the dao meridian to you, it’s not fully part of your body yet. You won’t assimilate my dao meridian that easily. I’ll give it to you once you’ve completed your task!”

“All the same, I thank the commander,” Chao Baisheng nearly wept with joy. “Only today do I know that I am a frog at the bottom of the well with no knowledge of how high the heavens are. It is thanks to the commander that I am enlightened!”

“There is no need for carrying on like this. I need to cultivate some more, so you can leave for now. You can decide yourself how to carry out your task! There are so many evildoers in the world that they cannot all be exterminated. Just pick the most renowned ones. It is enough if you recruit them!”

“This subordinate understands!”

Li Hao did not mind the change in honorific. He’d simply casually placed a piece on the chessboard. It didn’t matter if it was a good move or not. There were too many evildoers in the world!

Skystar had been decrepit for too many years. Although he controlled the world now, it was difficult for him to arrest them all in a short period of time. If Chao Baisheng really could capture all the villains in the world, then that would be quite an extraordinary deed of merit.

1. The characters for ‘Baisheng’ are the same as Sacred White. ☜